


Don’t be late

by Rayana (rainbow09)



Category: Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 13:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15316143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbow09/pseuds/Rayana
Summary: This happens right after the final battle of Digimon Adventure tri, so be aware of spoilers of the 6th OVA in case you haven’t watched that yet. Originally written for TaiYama Week 2018.





	Don’t be late

To Taichi’s merit, he had made it home with a smile. The fact he collapsed on his bed as soon as he got there was another issue entirely. He had reassured his mother and Hikari he was fine, just spent – and weren’t they all?

For a long while he hadn’t been sure what to make of the heavy sensation at the pit of his stomach, but he had decided he shouldn’t focus on it yet. Twenty four hours had never felt so long and honestly Taichi wasn’t sure he could trust his emotions right now. He felt drained, too drained - exhausted to the very core of his being.

“Taichi…” as Koromon’s voice mumbled into his belly Taichi realised his partner had already fallen asleep cradled into the warm comfort of his arms. He was deep buried into his blankets with only his now closed eyes barely visible.

All he ever wanted was to close his and join him as well…

Between the adrenaline induced afternoon he and his friends had ran away from Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police and the anguished relief he had felt upon the sight of Omegamon’s white wings… now he thought of it, so much had happened that day everything was a bit of a blur.

Like a smudged painting. A smudge of red.

 _No._  
Not that.

He knew he would end up giving in to the throbing knot in his throat, he just wanted to sleep for now. He could deal with whatever anguish he felt tomorrow, that’s all he wanted.

After he had left the hospital he had tried to close his eyes and cling to nothing but his words, the words he had listened to inside of the pod. He had repeated them to the digivice brought to his chest, almost like a mantra, like a prayer. He had found himself painfully aware he could remember his voice, his plea, all too well. The message weakened by the tears of pain he knew Nishijima was holding…

More than that, perhaps the issue is he couldn’t forget. Not even if he had tried. Not even if he had ever wanted to. He had clung to his teacher’s voice in such a desperate attempt to keep himself together, now Taichi wondered if the darkness of that room would forever haunt his memories and if there was any way he could have had acted so things had played out any different. He allowed himself to wonder if a reboot would have helped, only to choke a laugh that came out painfully similar to a sob.

He had tried. For the sake of Daisuke and everybody else who had got out of that place alive. For Hikari’s sake. For his friends sake.

But in truth he wasn’t alright. It hurt. It hurt like hell to know it could have been him, that for some cruel and pointless sense of heroism his teacher had made the selfish decision of saving him.

He wanted to believe he had been saved at least, and yet the cruel reality had him vaguely aware that wasn’t entirely true. His brain and guilt wanted him to believe it wasn’t in vain, but a rational side to him knew he had just been luck. The rocks had hurt the wrong person

Taichi closed his eyes and found out, too late, that he was crying in silence. His hot tears couldn’t be stopped anymore and he wished he had held it a little longer. Because the tears weren’t helping. It still hurt.

Was it an insult to his memory to cry like this? To feel anguished about his departure when Nishijima had tried so hard to make sure Taichi wouldn’t give up? To cry and not start living immediately the happy future he had sacrificed himself believing Taichi could somehow contribute to? He didn’t know and it haunted him. It made his heart sink into his chest like a painful blade.

Why did he have to carry this burden? Another life. In the end, he had just taken another life wasn’t it? Not just Wizarmon or Whammon, but a dear friend who had supported him through the past years, someone who had scolded him and tried to turn him into a functional adult for at least two years of his life.

He didn’t know how. Taichi honestly had no idea what to do now. He felt miserable as the tears kept falling. He desperately tried to make sure noone in the livingroom could hear him. He hoped his mother would leave him alove if she could, but he wasn’t sure Hikari would. He didn’t want her to see him like this.

He didn’t know how long it lasted before he felt a pressure in his stomach and realized Koromon was hugging him. Not a word, not even a sound. Just a tight hug and a sadness in his eyes Taichi didn’t know was there. When he had woken up his partner he didn’t know but Taichi was grateful. He hugged Koromon back and thanked every god at least he was right there with him, right on his arms, with memories intact no less.

“Taichi…”

He didn’t reply but he didn’t release him either. He clung to the hug and choked another sob.

…and Koromon understood. He didn’t say anything else. This was a moment that didn’t need words… His presence was all he needed. The feeling was mutual, afterall.

None of them were alright right now, but both of them would heal. They would rest, and they would recover from this.

At least, Taichi hoped he would.

…

He didn’t know if he had in fact cried himself to sleep or just doozed off for a couple of minutes, but the loud buzz made him snap his eyes open with a startle. He found himself engulfed in the darkness of his bedroom. Whatever tears he had spilled seemed to have already dried.

Taichi glanced to his side and realised Koromon was fast asleep again, his long ears keeping him hugged into his chest. He tried not to move too much when he sighed to rub the dry tears off his eyes.

How long he had been asleep he didn’t know, but the knot in his stomach seemed to have melted into a wave of pure exhaustion.

Except the annoying buzz wasn’t stopping, so he debated whether he should try pick up the call or ignore it; he didn’t know what time it was, he really wasn’t in the mood for talking either way.

Deciding he could at least take a look at the screen and figure out whoever he had to send an apology message the next morning, Taichi stretched a lazy arm over his head towards the right of his alarm clock where his fingers touched the smooth surface of his flip phone. With less than enough energy, he pulled the device and snapped the phone open. He blinked at the hurting screenlight a few times before he could figure out the shape of a familiar name.

YAMATO.

It was 11:25 p.m.

Taichi sighed, not knowing whether to feel relieved or alarmed.

Perhaps he should take this afterall. He wasn’t sure his friend would cut him the slack of ignoring whatever news he had. Considering the recent events Taichi couldn’t even blame him. He just hoped this wasn’t too bad.

“Hey.” he winced at the sound of his own voice and tried to clear his throat, before he tried again “What happened?”

 _“Hey…”_  the familiar voice of Yamato on the other side seemed to pause for a second  _“I… Sorry, I woke you up?”_

“It’s fine. Did you want anything?”

The silent on the other side made Taichi wonder if he had sounded too harsh; he only hoped Yamato would go on with it so he could figure out whether he could go back to sleep or not.

 _“You know, a lot happened.”_ he could practically feel him shrug _“Did you make it home?”_

Taichi blinked.

So this wasn’t an emergency call or nothing of the sort, but to his own surprise he found out he was actually relieved instead of annoyed. Yamato seemed alright, calm even, and something about his tone of voice made him suspect this was his own way of checking on him. Taichi let out a sigh of relief.

“We did. Mother said we were lucky the military forced a curfew, the media had to wash out.”

He counted about two seconds of silence but Yamato did sound sligthly amused.

_“That’s one way to put it.”_

“So?”

Taichi allowed himself to relax on the matress, trying not to stir too much so he didn’t wake up Koromon. He still had his hears sligthly wrapped around his belly and Taichi found himself too fond of this current position to bother him.

_“Hey, I know it’s late, but….”_

“…”

_“Takeru wants to go check on Ken and everybody else over the hospital by five. We could go together.”_

Of course. Taichi felt a pang of guilt for not thinking about it earlier. As soon as he had left everybody in the hands of much more competent people than him at assisting and taking care of their vitals, he had assumed his presence was needed somewhere else and at the sight of Ordinemon he hadn’t dared look back.

It only made sense now things were over and Odaiba was no longer under fire he should at the very least go back and try knowing what had happened.

“I…”

If he was being honest he didn’t want to go. He just figured he should. This was the least he could do for them right now, wasn’t it? They were alright, he didn’t have to fear going back to the hospital and find out they were…

_“Taichi…”_

“…”

_“We can meet a little earlier, if you want. I’ll go fetch you.”_

Yamato did sound almost like he didn’t care. Almost. Taichi wanted to come up with some kind of excuse but… perhaps it was for the best he couldn’t think of anything.

“Right.”

A new silence.

And Taichi knew. He could tell what Yamato was doing. He didn’t know whether to feel annoyed or grateful.

“…”

_“Alright?”_

“Fine.”

_“Around three?”_

“I…”

“…”

Taichi decided not to prolong this. He should trust Yamato’s judgement better than his on this.

“No, it’s fine. Sounds good.”

_“Cool. I’ll call you.”_

“Okay.”

_“See you tomorrow.”_

“See you…”

_“…and Taichi.”_

“Hnm..?”

He could almost feel Yamato’s intense presence grow stronger as he let a pause fall between them.

_“Don’t be late.”_

Taichi felt his lips curl into a soft smile. Harsh, rough, yet warm; that was the tone of the voice he knew better than to disappoint the next day. It wasn’t a lot but this… this, he could do.

“I won’t.”


End file.
